Regional

Japan vows to defend territory

TOKYO: Japan’s defence minister vowed to defend the country’s territory as three Chinese government ships entered disputed waters off Tokyo-controlled islands in the East China Sea, the first such incident this year.

The Chinese coastguard vessels sailed into the 12-nautical-mile territorial waters at about 8.30am on Saturday off one of the Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus, Japan’s coastguard said.